Tuition expenses at an elementary or secondary school are one of the
professional judgment items explicitly mentioned in section 479A of
the Higher Education Act. Unlike most of the other special
circumstances, however, the decision to send one's children to a
private elementary or secondary school is discretionary in nature.

As a result, some financial aid administrators are less inclined to
grant an adjustment for private school tuition, since they consider it
to be a lifestyle choice. Those financial aid administrators will only
make an adjustment when there are circumstances beyond the family's
control, such as a special needs child or a court order.

Most financial aid administrators, however, will allow an adjustment
for the student's siblings, in part because it is explicitly mentioned
in the statute. Although it is to some extent a lifestyle choice, the
money is being spent on education. Considering that the need analysis
methodology does include an implicit adjustment for
postsecondary tuition and related expenses by dividing the
parent contribution by the number of children in college, it seems
reasonable to adjust income for actual elementary and secondary school
tuition expenses.

When financial aid administrators allow an adjustment, some allow the
full amount of tuition paid as an adjustment, while others cap it in
some manner. A common cap is the cap the College Board uses in the
Financial Aid PROFILE. That cap is based on the average cost to the
government to educate a student in the public schools. (For 2004-2005,
the average cost is $8,701 per student according to the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES).
This is the most recent year for which data is available.
NCES also publishes projections of future per-pupil public education costs.) The reasoning is that this is the amount
the government saves when a parent sends their children to private school.
(This is the rationale specified on page 4 of DCL GEN-87-27 in
connection with the allowance for elementary and secondary tuition
expenses in the Uniform Methodology. At the time they used a $3,150
limit per child and wrote that "This limit is based on the national
average per pupil instruction costs for a student attending a public
elementary or secondary school. Thus, the allowance is limited to what
it costs a taxpayer to send a student to public school. Any cost
beyond the $3,150 per child limit is considered discretionary and is
not allowed.")

Note, however, that when colleges make an adjustment to income for the
college attendance of the parents, they do not limit the amount of the
adjustment. Although paying for elementary and secondary education is
more of a lifestyle choice than paying for a college education, it is
more justifiable than paying for a boat or luxury vehicle. Moreover,
to the extent that paying for this education is permitted as an
adjustment, the full amount paid should be subject to adjustment
because the funds are not available to the family to pay for the
sibling's college education.

Typically the adjustment is implemented by including the amount of
tuition on Worksheet C. This avoids any impact on the state and local
tax allowance.